Request an Item - Interlibrary Loans

Request an Item - Interlibrary Loans (ILL)

Important Information

We are suspending Interlibrary loan book lending at this time. If you currently have an ILL book on loan, we are working with our borrowing institutions to extend due dates.

We continue to accept ILL article requests and will make every effort to acquire your materials. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, lenders may not be able to fulfill these requests. Should this happen, we will refer you to a librarian who can assist you with alternative resources. Please email LIBILL@mercy.edu with questions or comments.

The Mercy College Libraries participate in interlibrary loan (ILL) borrowing and lending activities. ILL enables patrons to request books and articles not currently owned by the Mercy College Libraries for research purposes. If you have any questions, please contact the ILL department at 914-674-7580 or LIBILL@mercy.edu

Eligibility

ILL service is free to all Mercy students, faculty, and staff who have a current CWID. We do not provide ILL services for visitors or alumni. Interlibrary loan service does not provide loans for the following materials:

Primary and archival materials
Theses
Dissertations
Textbooks
Materials already readily available in an electronic format
Audio/visual materials

Notifications and Turnaround Times

All notifications regarding ILL are sent to the e-mail address or telephone number you provided to the college as your contact information.
We make every effort to address your request as quickly as possible. Wait times vary:

The average wait time for requested articles is between 3-10 days
The average wait time for requested books is between 5–15 days.

Loan Periods

ILL books must be returned within the due date established by the lending library
Some ILL books may be available to renew. Please contact the ILL department to renew
Please return items to the library campus of your convenience
Articles do not need to be returned

Borrowing Limits

Due to limited resources, we have instituted a cap on the number of items requested at one time, also known as rolling requests. Listed below are the limits per designation:

Undergraduates 10 max limit
Graduates / McNair 15 max limit
Faculty / Staff 20 max limit
Adjuncts 15 max limit

Faculty members may request increased interlibrary loan access for Student Research Assistants engaged in research on behalf of faculty members. Student Research Assistants will be allowed 20 rolling requests. This level will be granted upon completion of one-on-one training with a librarian (this training helps limit the number of unnecessary requests for articles already available from our collection or from the open web). Please contact your school’s library liaison to take part.